Swimming and beach at Sa Riera (Begur)

Sa Riera is the largest of the three Begur beaches (Sa Tuna and Fornells/Platja Fondo/Aiguablava being the others) and the closest directly to the Begur town itself, though it is still 2-3km downhill. The beach is situated in a small older village directly around the beach surrounded by hills with select luxury villas. The village area has a handful of restaurants, a couple of shops and a small supermarket all of which are open during summer, but normally closed out of season. It's picturesque with views, but feels a little more touristy than Sa Tuna or Aiguablava.

The beach is large and sandy at the base of the stream that runs down from Begur, with space for fishing boats to the right-hand side with boats on the beach and in the water. It is framed by rocky cliffs to the left looking out to sea with a path that runs over the top to Platja de la Isla Roja and Platja de Pals. On the right is a smaller second beach and a small rocky headland with a villa on it. The beach is north facing and looks directly towards the Isles Medes. If there is a south wind blowing, Sa Riera is protected and remains perfectly calm for swimming.

At the back the road comes down from Begur on a windy road that becomes a relatively narrow valley with low-rise holiday apartment blocks as you come into the main Sa Riera village and the number of villas mean the area is very popular for villa and apartment rentals, but it is typically closed up during the winter.

Facilities at the beaches

Being relatively large and popular there is canoe hire, lifeguards and a diving school at the beach. As mentioned, in the village area are a few seasonal restaurants. The swimming area is marked off by buoys far into the bay and in fact the buoys are situated so that the swimming area extends right around the cliffs to the beaches of Platja de la Isla Rojo and Platja de Pals.

Sand quality

The sand is coarse to grainy and a little grey and dusty and not really good for sandcastles. it's also a big beach so there is a lot of sand to cross in order to get to the water.

Swimming

Swimming is best towards the left hand rocks. The main bay area is mostly a sandy bottom with little to see, though with the buoy positions, it's possible to swim out a long way. The rockier left hand side and more of interest in the water and for long distance swimmers it's relatively easy to swim around the cusp of the bay into the next beach and beyond.

Parking

Parking is mostly along the entrance and exits roads with a charge in season for the parking closest to the beach. We were swimming just out of season (mid-September) and there were no problems parking. In season, it will be busy which will mean parking a little further away and walking down to the beach.